rafael nadal wiki : Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player, currently world No. 1 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Nadal has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles, the second most in history for a male player, as well as a record 33 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, a record 20 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments, and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. In majors, Nadal has won a record 11 French Open titles, three US Open titles, two Wimbledon titles, and one Australian Open title. He was also a member of the winning Spain Davis Cup team in 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2011. In 2010, he became the seventh male player in history and youngest of five in the Open Era to achieve the Career Grand Slam at age 24. He is the second male player, after Andre Agassi, to complete the singles Career Golden Slam. In 2011, Nadal was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, a town on the island of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, Spain to parents Ana María Parera and Sebastián Nadal. His father is a businessman, owner of an insurance company, glass and window company Vidres Mallorca, and the restaurant, Sa Punta. Rafael has a younger sister, María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a retired professional footballer, who played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca.Recognizing in Rafael a natural talent, another uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old.
At age 8, Nadal won an under-12 regional tennis championship at a time when he was also a promising football player.This made Toni Nadal intensify training, and at that time he encouraged Nadal to play left-handed for a natural advantage on the tennis court, as he noticed Nadal played forehand shots with two hands.
At age 12, Nadal won the Spanish and European tennis titles in his age group, while also playing football full-time. Nadal's father made him choose between football and tennis so that his school work would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis. Football had to stop straight away."
When he was 14, the Spanish tennis federation requested that Nadal leave Mallorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis training. His family turned down this request, partly because they feared his education would suffer, but also because Toni said that "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America, or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home." The decision to stay home meant less financial support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs. In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam tournament champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.
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